Medieval Times, Day 4

Leia has talked about Fry Bread House, a James Beard award winning restaurant, since we got to Phoenix. She’s taken her dad and he loved it as much as she does.

The restaurant building is very small and was jammed packed. You stand in line, yell your order across the counter, then sit - probably outside under pop-ups; so glad it wasn’t super hot today - 

and wait 25+ minutes for the fresh, hot order to arrive. Did I mention they were packed? 

It was good, especially the veggie beef stew Pop ordered, but I didn’t like it all that much (don’t tell Leia). Gotta try something different next time…

Have you noticed how much this trip has focused on food? 

Leia has scoped out some really good places in the year+ she’s lived here. 

Tonight’s visit wasn’t so much about the food - although their “dragon’s blood” soup is one of Leia’s favorites. 

It was more about yelling and flag waving and having a good time. Oh, and a little about horses. 

Of the 4 teens, I think only Leia had been to Medieval Times before. A very good time was had by all (especially Pop who had both his and my roasted half chicken, 3 corns on the cob and a couple baked potato halves. 😆) 

It’s messy eating with your hands but the food is surprisingly delicious.

Tomorrow we head home, leaving Ginger behind. In just 2 days, she’s already exploring all the rooms and demanding attention from all 3 roomies. I’ll miss her but the Princess will be living her very best life in the desert. 

Scottsdale, Day 3

Ginger is still happy (Leia too), the food at Butters is still excellent (2 days in a row!) 

and we found a great place - the Western Spirit Museum - that us elders enjoyed and Leia plans to visit with her teen pals too. 

The gift shop lady said they’ve been open 12 years but almost nobody has heard of them. 

They have a new marketing person who will hopefully get the word out - this is a quality, quirky place to spend an afternoon. 

There’s a little bit of a lot of things on display along with an excellent selection of bronze sculptures. 

The current show, due to rotate soon, is western movie posters and artifacts, with snippets of the actual movies playing on screens around the exhibit. 

I bet hubby has seen over 90% of the films - he does love a good (or bad! He’s not picky😆) western. 

 An actual Remington bronze from 1901! And a photobombing teen.

Leia made us feel really old - we’d say ‘oh look, there’s Ernie Borgnine’ or Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds??? and she’d say ‘who??’. She did know John Wayne though…

A docent said there's a town parade the first weekend in February, with all the horses sporting their best silver finery. 

It goes right by the museum and you can hear the silver clanking from blocks away. We may need to visit Leia again about then…

Just realized I didn’t take any pics of the jewelry! The pieces were stunning, with a selection of traditional and modern. Definitely want to see them again. 

I did get pics of some of the weaving (gorgeous)

and a pottery bowl circa 1700. (That Blogger won’t let me upload. 😡) It was broken, then repaired and is still beautiful. I’ll try uploading when we get home…

Neat landscaping around the exterior. Wonder if we have enough slate left to try this…

Tempe, AZ, Day Two

Ginger is settling in nicely. 

When we picked up Leia today, Ginger was snuggled under Leia’s blankets and refused to come out. 

She was fascinated by the snakes last night, and is curled into Leia’s side tonight. 

I think she’s still feeling the drugs from the plane ride - yesterday her pupils were the size of a dime, today they’re almost back to normal. Happy Ginger, happy Leia.

Leia wanted us to have breakfast at Butters Restaurant in Scottsdale - OMGGGGG some of the best food we’ve ever had. 

Plus we had a window seat to watch the wind storm come thru (we were on the fringe of things) followed by pouring rain. Leia keeps laughing at us because we’re amazed at how much water - rain-wise and river-lake-wise - there is in this desert!

The rest of the afternoon was at OdySea Aquarium, also in Scottsdale. 

I thought it odd when the ticket lady said ‘check out the bathrooms, then head upstairs.’ 

Y’all! They had windows looking into one of the tanks, 

with sharks swimming by every few seconds. 

And fishbowl lights (with real fish) on the first floor ceiling. So cool. 

OdySea has the biggest collection of different turtles I’ve ever seen. Most are rescues who couldn’t survive in the wild. 

Leia especially liked the Paddlefish 

Paddlefish with wide-open mouth

and the Ripsaw Catfish.

My favs, as always, are the jelly fish (cuttlefish?) displays, 

including a new one to me - 

the Upside-down Jellyfish. 

Hard to photograph in the dim light tho. 

Tomorrow is the Museum of Illusions, 

Monday we’re taking Leia and her friends to Medieval Times for dinner 

 The rays kept swerving just out of Leia’s reach 

and Tuesday we fly home. 

It’s been a whirlwind but so much fun. (Want to know what I forgot to pack? My 🤬 glasses. Regular and sun. I’m blaming Ginger…) 

 Sloth fingers

More pics: 

 Athena ⬆️⬇️

 Mr Toucan had sooooo many toys hanging in his enclosure 

 Street car runs right in front of Leia’s apartment